


Stargazing, Public Drunkenness, and Ice Cream

by hops



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Birthday, Date Night, M/M, a little bit of everything!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 03:53:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11501220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hops/pseuds/hops
Summary: "To be quite honest, I was planning on taking you to Fantasy Olive Garden, but I think a night such as this one requires something a little more... imaginative."Kravitz gives Taako a birthday to remember.





	Stargazing, Public Drunkenness, and Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [legendofkuvira (jephaway)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jephaway/gifts).



> Not gonna lie, this one majorly got away from me. It's about 4x longer than I intended.  
> I didn't really proofread this, nor did I tie up all the loose ends because I MIGHT write a continuation later on. WINK  
> Don't @ me about details in this fic. They are probably off but I've been working on this for days and I just gotta let it go lol. 
> 
> Anyway, this is a birthday gift for my sweet pal @lesbianlaracrovt! Thanks for being my TAZ partner in crime always and for watching all the videos I send to you of me crying over TAZ on snapchat. I love ya!!! 
> 
> OH and the mentioned meeting between Lucretia and Kravitz is a #concept I borrowed from @epersonae because I love it so much.
> 
> Edit: also also, this is like SOMEWHAT connected to my other fic, Writing On The Wall, which deals with Taako's feelings on being incomplete, depressed, etc. I didn't delve more into those feelings bc this is from Krav's POV but ye

For once, Kravitz was the one who was on time. Taako was usually late, but Kravitz was always later, always trying (and failing) to estimate the time in Taako's plane in comparison to his own to show up for nights out. But this time he'd estimated even just a little early. So he let himself into Taako's apartment at the Moon campus and waited on the pink velvet Victorian settee within. Kravitz smirked to himself as he neatly folded his legs. How very Taako.  

He hadn't exactly planned on  _dating._ Much less dating a mortal. Signing your soul over to the Raven Queen for employment didn't leave much room for worldly pleasures, but there was nothing really  _stopping_ him from seeing Taako again. And again. And... again.  

It was nice. Taako had quite a way of charming him, all the while keeping him on his toes. So, he thought it was only appropriate that he take him out on his birthday. But 6:45 turned into 7, (the time they'd agreed to meet,) 7 turned into 8, and by 8:15 Kravitz found himself worrying. He couldn't be upset with Taako, considering he'd kept him up waiting longer more than once, but he was struck with a feeling that something was wrong.  

Around 8:30, the doorknob rustled with the sound of keys entering on the other side. With it, came that same vague feeling that something  _undead_ was nearby. A lich? But no, only Taako slid through the door, near silent, save for the sound of crying.  

Oh, gods.  

He wasn't exactly prepared to handle this one. He liked clever Taako. Mischevious Taako. Laughing, teasing, cruel, beautiful Taako. It'd been quite some time since he'd had to deal heavily with the day-to-day hardships of being human (or, elven). This, he'd somehow forgotten, was one of them.  

Taako had his back to him, hanging his cloak on the coatrack by the door, placing his umbrellla against the rack, and leaning for a moment against the wall. Kravitz watched with a certain tenderness as Taako wiped the back of his long, slender hand against his face and sniffed. He wasn't sure if his boyfriend knew he was in the room or not. He debated saying something, but feared he would embarrass him, or say the wrong thing. So Kravitz sat uncomfortably, hands clasped in his lap, waiting for Taako to notice him.  

"Fuck," Taako sobbed to the wall. Kravitz was almost entirely certain now that Taako didn't know he was there. "Fuck! Just—stop thinking about it."  

The curses cut through Kravitz right to the core. He wanted to make it better. To stop the hurt he was feeling, turn it to paper, and set it on fire. He realized then that he'd never really felt that before for another person. At least, not for a very long time.  

He swallowed his nerves and spoke softly: "Taako?"  

Taako whirled around, nearly jumping out of his skin. "Kravitz! It's not—I'm not—!" He wiped his face briskly. "How did you get in here? How long have you been sitting there?"  

Kravitz stood up from his seat on the uncomfortable, but stylish, couch. "I've been here for a little while. It is Friday night, is it not?"  

"Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry, Krav, I totally forgot, I—" Taako's eyes filled with tears which Kravitz watched him promptly swallow down. "I'm sorry. It was a long day and I just... forgot. I'm sorry."  

Kravitz raised a hand to stop the apologies. "It's really okay. We can do another time if you want, I don't want you to feel like we have to..."  

"No, no, you came all this way."  

"Well, it is your birthday after all."  

Taako looked downtrodden. The week or so prior that Kravitz had seen him last, he was so excited for his birthday, for a day aaaalllllll about Taako, for gifts, for wine, for cake, for all of the pleasures that working for the Bureau didn't exactly afford for.  

Taako laughed weakly. "Yeah, I, uh, forgot. Until right now."  

"Do you, ah, want to talk about it?"  

He laughed again, a little stronger now. "Not at all, my dude. Sooo not cute for a date night."  

Kravitz started to protest. "But—"  

"I'm going to get changed. You wait right here, I'll just be a secooond!" Taako was singsong again, and Kravitz knew it was an act. He also knew he wasn't going to be a second. Taako, (y'know, from TV?) had never gotten ready in under half an hour in his entire life.  

The additional alone time gave Kravitz time to mull over what had just happened. The tears, the curses, the sudden and abrupt shift in Taako's mood... And the nagging feeling that there was a fucking  _lich_ in his apartment wasn't helping his own focus. Kravitz brought his thoughts back to center. Clearly, Taako didn't want to talk about whatever was upsetting him. On the surface, Kravitz felt relief. However, upon digging any deeper into that feeling he felt... guilty. Worried. He wanted to ease Taako's pain, but he wasn't sure how.  

The date would go on as planned. Maybe with a little more alcohol.  

Again, the sensation of a lich almost tugged at his chest like a dog on a leash. The feeling hadn't been there before Taako walked in, but what had he  _brought in_ with him that would have something he couldn't detect? There was no way Taako was a lich. He would know about it.  

He dwelled on the thought, going back and forth with himself for some time before Taako stepped out in a slinky pale green number with a slit up to his mid-thigh and a sharp pair of heels. His hair fell in carefully framed waves around his face, then tied into a loose braid down his shoulder. Glimmering gemstones lined his collarbone and his ears.  

"Wow... Taako, you look..."  

"Stunning?" Taako said dramatically with a smirk, doing a little turn.  

Kravitz stood once again and held out a hand, which Taako promptly took. "Yes. Precisely."  

"Shall we?"  

Kravitz led Taako out the door and into the hall of the apartment dome, leaving the uneasy feelings of the room behind. The unease of the undead was gone, meaning that whatever was causing the problem was likely in the apartment itself, but...  

Kravitz put the thought out of his mind. The topic had drummed up enough tension on their first date that he'd elected to not bring it up again, at least not until things were more... comfortable. Or until things went south. Was accusing your boyfriend of harboring a lich breakup argument material? And even worse, Kravitz trusted Taako. He knew that he was being honest when he said he didn't know.  

 _Out of mind,_ Kravitz sighed internally, cursing his racing thoughts.  _You're not working right now._  

Kravitz snaked an arm around Taako's waist and pulled him close as they stepped out onto the grassy quad of the moon base.  

"So, where ya taking me, bone daddy?"  

"Sorry, the Raven Queen just called, I actually have to go."  

Taako laughed, echoing out into the night. Not many people were still out. "Alright, I'll save that for later, then."  

Kravitz flushed red, taken off guard by the flirtation. He should have learned to expect it with Taako, but the wizard always kept him on his toes.  

"I..." Kravitz hesitated, feeling a little inadequate with his original plan. "To be quite honest, I was planning on taking you to Fantasy Olive Garden, but I think a night such as this one requires something a little more... imaginative."  

"You know I'm always down for unlimited pasta and breadsticks."  

"Yes, I know that. But it's your birthday, today obviously wasn't what it should have been for you, so..."  

Kravitz pulled him in the opposite direction from which they'd been walking, whirling Taako into his chest and sending them both into a light fit of laughter. "Easy there, slick," Taako grinned, tucking a stray blonde ringlet behind his pointed ear.  

"Come on," Kravitz grinned, pulling him along with both hands.  

"Your hands are so cold," Taako whined, scrunching his nose. Gods, he looked so cute.  

"Come warm them up."  

Taako laughed, the sound echoing over the quad. "Is that even possible?"  

Kravitz walked his date down the pavement of the campus street to the glowing neon pink and green of the sign before them: FANTASY LIQUOR MART. Taako laughed, close to hysterics.  

"Your dazzling, romantic, show-stopping plan, that,  _mind you,_ we're missing  _endless_ pasta and breadsticks for, is to take me to the seedy moon base liquor store?"  

"I'll buy you that sparkly purple vodka you like so much."  

Taako was already through the door.  

Kravitz followed slowly, watching with a fond smile as his blonde hair bobbed up and down the aisles. At the front of the store, he picked out a carton of neapolitan ice cream, a bag of chips, and a bottle of whisky and placed them on the counter, waiting for his boyfriend to return with the booze. The cashier rang them up and set them on their way.  

Kravitz picked out the centermost spot on the empty quad. "Wait here," he said, and before Taako could protest, he stepped through a tear to another plane.  

"Oh, what the fuck," Taako muttered, looking down at the plastic bag of snacks and booze on the ground.  

Kravitz promptly returned with a blanket in hand, and spread it out over the grass.  

"Aw, a blanket straight from the Eternal Stockade. Charming, and not dark at all." Taako laid down and propped himself up on one elbow, watching as Kravitz sat down next to him.  

"Would you rather get ants in that dress?"  

"I'd rather get something else in this dress."  

Kravitz chuckled, tapping his finger to Taako's nose. "Later."  

Taako flopped onto his back and let out a dramatic sigh. Kravitz felt the tension within the sound and reached for the bottle of shimmering galactic vodka beside him.  

"Here," he said, unscrewing the cap and handing it to Taako. He watched as Taako sat up a little and took two too-big gulps.  

"Well, come on. You're not gonna make me drink alone on the quad, are you?"  

Kravitz rolled his eyes with a smirk and cracked open his own bottle. After a few sips had brought a little buzz to his mind and vision, he reclined next to Taako and was greeted by a kiss.  

"So, handsome..." Taako crooned. "What'd you take me out here for? Some good old fashioned public drunkenness?"  

"It's probably not very impressive, considering you live on the moon, but... the romantic in me was saying stargazing  _and_ public drunkenness. And ice cream."  

"Just what the doctor ordered."  

Taako took a few more gulps of his booze, promptly arriving at a pleasant drunk within a few minutes. Kravitz didn't mind, so long as he was having a better time than he had been the rest of the day. He wondered what had happened to upset him so, but he knew better than to ask and risk upsetting him again.  

They lay there for a long time, drinking, pointing out shooting stars, naming their own constellations with goofy names. Kravitz held out a spoonful of ice cream which Taako ate with a smirk. Upon returning the favor, he dabbed some ice cream onto Kravtiz's nose. Kravitz gave taako a shot of his whisky, prompty causing Taako to make a face, then chase the alcohol with another spoonful of strawberry ice cream. Kravitz laughed.  

Once they were both properly liquored and ice cream'ed up, they flopped into a tangle of limbs beneath the stars on Kravitz's blanket, both of them letting out a long, satisfied sigh. Still, Taako was a little subdued. Uncharacteristically quiet.  

"Hey, Krav?" Taako spoke, sounding careful.  

"Yes, dear?"  

Kravitz felt a smile on Taako's face through his suit at the term of endearment, but his tone was still unsure. "Do you ever feel.... I dunno. No, it's stupid."  

"Taako?"  

The elf let out a long, frustrated, drunken sigh. His words were only mildly slurred when he spoke again. "Do you ever feel like part of you is missing? And nothing anyone can say can fix you?"  

Kravitz was not expecting that.  

"I..."  

"I know it's stupid you—you don't have to answer." Taako said. "But I don't know. I think I was just born alone. I'm kinda just meant to be alone, and that sucks, y'know?" 

"I don't think that's true."  

Taako sighed. The breath trembled audibly in his throat before he spoke again. "Sometimes you just have to have a little meltdown about it. Get existential, ya dig?"  

Kravitz rubbed his back in circles.  

"I just. I dunno. It's so stupid because everyone else has good reasons to be fucking sad and I'm just...  _sad._ Fucking pathetic, really." He was hiding it well, but Kravitz knew Taako was crying.  

"You don't have to have a good reason. You're allowed to feel sad, Taako."  

A watery laugh was muffled by Kravitz's suit. "I guess you're right!" Taako exclaimed, feigning pep, but his voice cracked in his tears.  

Kravitz noted that this was the one and only time he'd ever heard Taako talk about feelings. Everything before was all surface level, all jokes and dark humor, all taking the focus off of the serious and putting it onto him. He thought to remember next time that alcohol was probably not the best solution for an already emotional Taako. But for now, he could at least be here.  

"Hey," Kravitz murmured, adjusting his position so he could take Taako's chin into his hand and press to him, nose to nose. "I'm sorry I don't have some sage wisdom for you, but Taako? You're not alone. I mean, you've got Magnus and Merle... you've got me. I know I'm not much, but--"  

Taako kissed him, abrupt and hard. A tiny sob left him when he pulled away.  

"It's a lot."  

Kravitz kissed him again, wrapping him in his arms. Taako's mouth was warm against his own; the feeling welcome after so much time  _alone._ They seemed to have that in common.  

Kravitz separated from his boyfriend and stood, knowing he couldn't say anything to solve Taako's gloomy feeling, nor would such a public scene of affecton solve any of his problems. Luckily, he had an ace in the hole. He pulled Taako up with two hands and gathered up their belongings.  

"Come on. I have another surprise." He pulled Taako by one hand while the other waved easily and blinked the their snacks and the blanket to another plane. Taako had both bottles of booze under the crook of his arm.  

Taako grinned now, a final few tears glimmering down his cheeks. "Where are we going? Krav!" He laughed as his boyfriend dragged him along in a jog.  

They crossed the quad and passed through an alley to the back of the observatory dome.  

"Now  _that's_ stargazing," Taako murmured as they slowed to a stop, wrapping his free arm around Kravtiz's and pulling close.  

"Only the best for you."  

"But how are we--" Taako began to ask, then stopped as Kravitz started to walk for the back door. His arm slipped out of Taako's grasp, but his hand then slipped right into Taako's and hooked him in again to follow behind him.  

Then, suddenly, Kravitz blinked out of existence and left Taako's hand empty. A moment later, he pushed through the back door that had been previously locked. Taako smirked.  

"What?" Kravitz shrugged, holding out his hand once more. "I'm way ahead of you."  

They walked through the dim corridors of the observatory and towards the center chamber that held the telescope and projectors. Kravitz pushed the double doors open and propped one open for Taako as he sauntered through.  

"After you, beautiful," Kravitz said with a fond smile, holding onto the doorframe with one hand as he swooped down to kiss Taako, who stopped short in the doorway to take his face into his hands.  

Kravitz blushed. He prayed that the rush of heat wouldn't inadvertently send him into his skeletal form.  

They walked into the pitch black darkness of the center dome together, standing in the echoing chamber for a few moments before Kravitz found the lever on the wall to turn on the power. With a loud  _WHRRR_ the room powered up, activating the lights on the ceiling and the huge telescope in the center of the room.  

"Holy shit," Taako muttered, looking up at Kravitz. "How did you know about this place? I  _live_ here and I never even go in here."  

Kravitz didn't mention his previous meeting with Lucretia about her death count, not long after he'd visited Taako about his own, and that of Magnus and Merle, after their time at Refuge. The Director herself had given him the tip of a date night at the Observatory- one of her own favorite places on the Moon base- just, not after hours like this. But Kravitz was sure that if they were to get caught, he could surely talk his way out of it. He had a knack for making deals.  

This was the first, however, that had found him a boyfriend.  

"I've got my ways," Kravitz smiled. He reached for Taako's bottle of silvery purple vodka, unscrewed the top, and took a swig. He held it out to Taako, who took it and did the same. "Come on."  

The climbed the stairs to the great telescope that towered over them both, Taako only tripping on his dress a few times in their haste. The second time, he wound up twisting and landing on his ass on the top step, laughing and laughing and pulling himself against Kravitz however he could.  

"Are you okay?" Kravitz asked, laughing too. They were drunk.  

"Yeah! Yeah. I'm okay, bubbeleh." He looked up at Kravtiz and allowed the taller man to pull him up with both hands. "You look very handsome."  

Kravitz swallowed, keenly aware of their proximity. "Thank you."  

He walked Taako over to the eyepiece of the telescope. Kravitz peered into the lens and adjusted the controls a bit until he found a planet with an asteroid belt within range.  

"Take a look," Kravitz said, touching the small of Taako's back to guide him in to see.  

"Hachi machi," Taako murmured. Kravitz smiled.  

As Taako messed around with the telescope, Kravitz paced the control board on the platform. He knew this room had a projector, and he could detect the magic on it, but he wasn't sure how to get it going. Being the grim reaper didn't exactly include technological aptitude in the job description. He hit a glowing green button and nothing visible happened, so he hit it again for good measure. The orange button to its left started to close the dome, so he promptly hit it again to stop the movement. Finally, he hit a large glowing white button in the center panel (why didn't he try that one first?) and the room came to life.  

The overhead lights dimmed, leaving nothing but the glow of the other moon through the parted dome. Slowly, the view of the telescope manifested in the room as a projection, hanging stars, asteroids, and a few distant planets as floating holographs in the air. The sight took Kravitz's breath away.  

Taako stumbled back from the telescope and looked up into the vast glittering space in the room. "Holy shit," he whispered, taking in the sight above them. "Magic planetarium."  

Kravitz walked to the eyepiece of the telescope and moved it just to the right, so he could see the edge of the second moon in the foreground of the lens, then many many stars and a few planets in the distance. He pulled away from the lens to see Taako with his arms wrapped around himself, back turned, his blonde hair trailing down his bare back almost to where the pale green silk wrapped around his lower back and down his legs. He gazed up at the projections in wonder. Constellations peppered the room with sparkles that glinted in those elven eyes as he turned to Kravitz with a smile. As Kravitz looked at him, he felt the same fondness and concern that he'd felt in the apartment rise in his chest once again. No, not the tugging of a lich, but the pull of something... right. Something good. All the uncertainty, the unease, the tears, the not knowing what to say.... it melted away and was replaced by this feeling between them as their eyes met in the midst of the projections above and around them of the cosmos. 

He met Taako and pulled him into his arms, rocking him slightly beneath the canopy of projected stars.  

Kravitz hummed. "If only this place had some jazz, hmm?"  

"You're not gonna sing 'Fly Me to the Moon'?" Taako laughed, propping his chin on Kravitz's chest to look up at him. His face was dotted with projections of stars, interrupted only by the shadow cast by Kravtiz's own face. 

"I think a trip to the Eternal Stockade is preferable than hearing my singing voice."  

"So, it doesn't sound like Lenny Kravitz?"  

Kravitz snorted and swung Taako out in a lazy dance move, despite the absence of music. As he pulled him back in, he pressed his lips into a hard line, then parted them in a smile to sing:  

" _Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,"_  

Taako grinned. "You fucking liar. Your voice is  _hot!"_  

Kravitz shook his head., song wavering with a laugh. " _Happy birthday, dear_ _Taako_ _,"_  

Taako kissed him.  

" _Happy birthday to you."_  

**Author's Note:**

> Drop me a comment and/or hit me up on tumblr @maegnus!


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